The present invention relates generally to waste management systems, and more particularly to an integrated waste management and resource recovery system for handling the entire waste output of a large facility such as a deployed air or other military base.
Deployed airbases are essential platforms for the U.S. Air Force to launch weapon systems at overseas locations. The Army and other military departments have a similar need for deployed bases, sometimes referred to as Bare Bases.
To sustain these deployed military bases, particularly over long durations, a large number of ground personnel are required to provide support for operational and base activities, inevitably generating significant amounts of wastes on a daily basis. According to a study on deployable waste management systems, more than 196,000 lbs/day of solid and liquid wastes and wastewater are generated at a typical 1,100-person Bare Base.
Typical wastes include significant amounts of blackwater (wastewater from toilets), graywater (wastewater from other than toilets), food waste, solid wastes such as wood and cardboard, medical wastes and waste oils. Traditionally, blackwater and solid waste are trucked off site by local contractors, an onsite incinerator is used to treat medical waste, and an onsite lagoon is constructed and maintained to treat graywater (primarily by solar evaporation).
This traditional waste and resource management approach is not only a logistical burden, but using local contractors and truck convoys are significant security issues, particularly from contractor personnel coming on base to haul waste.
At the same time, essential materials, particularly water, must be supplied in large quantities on a daily basis. Water is an essential and high-volume logistical material for military operations involving long duration human settlement in isolated areas, where self-sufficiency is required to minimize logistic burdens of nonweaponry supplies. Also, wastewaters generated from living quarters must be effectively managed to maintain sanitary conditions for operational personnel.
Of all innovative technologies emerging within the Bare Base environment, waste management remains the least developed.
Developing a self-contained system that effectively handles the waste from a deployed military base will enhance environmental stewardship, reduce the environmental impact on a host nation and increase security.
Similar self-contained systems will also find great use after disasters such as floods and hurricanes.
Thus it is seen that there is a need for an effective and deployable waste management and resource recovery systems to enhance force protection, improve sanitary conditions and reduce logistic burdens.